12 Easy And Workable Ways To Save Money

Staying dedicated to saving money is one of the most difficult things to do, especially when there are a lot of other needs calling for attention. Various ways to save money people have employed over the years have failed for one reason or the other.

It’s pretty safe to save money for rainy days, despite the inconvenience that it will entail, you never can tell when your savings will actually save a life – yours or someone else’s. No matter how small your earnings are, it is always good to save a percentage. As small as 30% will over time accumulate into something reasonable, so do not relent on cutting down some expenses in order to save.

To make things easier, we compiled a list of workable ways you can save money from your entire expense. A little here and there is all you need to have an increased amount in your savings account. Don’t forget that you can survive with your basic needs, for the time being, any other things can wait till after you must have achieved the project you are saving for.

Tips on Ways To Save Money

1. Pay Yourself First

Once you receive your salary, earnings or pension, the best thing to do is to pay yourself first by crediting your savings account. Any delay might lead to total spending of the fund and procrastination of savings for subsequent earnings. Let your salary account be your savings account. The idea is to save before spending. Distribute your money accordingly in an idle way; 10% tithe, 30% savings, 40% expense and the remaining 20% in investments. For instance, if you earn N50, 000 in a week, this is how to split it; N5,000 for tithe, N15,000 for savings, N20,000 for the expense, N10, 000 for investment. This is one of the surest ways to save money and once you make it a habit, you will find it easy to stick to.

2. Cut Back On Eating Out

Eating out is very expensive and is not a route to ply when trying to save money. Fine, there is this once in a while crave to take a piece of hamburger but it shouldn’t be regular. Foodstuff is not that expensive in Nigeria, so build the habit of cooking at home, this will improve your health as well as your bank account balance.

3. Have Fun For Free

You don’t have to spend all your money in a club or at the movies because you want to have fun. These monies can sum up into your savings. Instead of going to the movies with your friends, download movies online and invite your friends home for a movie night. You can get enough roadside popcorn at a cheaper rate compared to the ones sold at the cinema. A home organized movie night with five friends might not cost more than N2,000, inclusive of data spent to download the movie. But a similar experience at the cinema might cost you and your friends nothing less than N10,000.

4. Get a Roommate

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No one wants inconvenience but a cooperative room-mate may be a blessing in disguise. Imagine how much you will be saving sharing your rent, utility bills and house furnishing with someone.

5. Avoid The Impulse

Allow yourself a few days before making purchases, especially when it comes to clothes or shoes. Impulse buying normally leads to a depleted checking or savings account and a surplus of unwanted items. It’s a simple rule: wait before you purchase.

6. Workout For Free

In Nigeria, the average gym membership costs between N20,000 to N30,000 a month, and more than N100,000 a year. You will be saving that money if you revert back to squats and other exercises that can be done in the comfort of your own home. You can build a team with your friends and exercise together without paying a dime.

7. Save Bonuses, Refunds & Favours

Instead of using bonuses, refunds or awoof money to buy those pair of shoes you’ve been eyeing, save them all. Pretend you never received them and immediately put the money away. You’ve been surviving without the extra cash, and won’t die if you don’t spend it.

8. Use a Piggy Bank

Adults sometimes resent the idea of piggy banks, as though it was restricted to children’s use only. This method may not help you achieve much but will help you build the habit of putting money away. Here is the trick: at the end of every day, gather all the low denominations (change) in your wallet, car, and purse, put them in a piggy bank and at the of the month you will be amazed at the amount you have been able to save. That money might just be your saving grace at a critical time when you are low on cash. When Mr piggy gets too small for the money, you can deposit its content in a bank and start the process all over again.

9. Go Basic With The Cable

How many channels can you watch at once on TV? One right? So why subscribe to an expensive cable package that offers over 100 channels when you won’t be watching all? Downgrade from premium cable to basic; a package that offers the major channels you watch is just enough for you, any other channel is a waste of your precious money. Also, if you work most of the day, you don’t need an expensive data subscription for your smartphone that is most likely to expire before you exhaust 50% of your data.

10. Manage Your Wardrobe Like A Stylist

Before going shopping, find out what clothes are already in your closet; then most importantly find different ways to wear them. Stylists know how to mix and match items to create different looks and for the sake of saving money, you should learn to think like a stylist and recycle the clothes you already have instead of getting new ones.

11. Keep Your ATM At Home

ATM cards have a way of making you spend more than planned for, it also encourages impulsive buying. Except you need your ATM card for an important transaction during the day, leave it at home. Also, for efficiency savings, create a new bank account and dump your savings there. DO NOT obtain an ATM card for that account to help curb your withdrawals.

12. Produce Your Own Products

The fewer products you buy the more money you save. If you can create one or two things, you are directly cutting down on your expense rate, because you won’t need to spend money to get that product from the market. So think of what you buy the most, and plan on producing it yourself.